Retail Advisory

From Strategy to Store Opening

AJN Realty Advisors provides comprehensive retail advisory services for international and emerging brands entering and expanding in the U.S. market.

Discuss Your U.S. Strategy
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Strategy Before Site Selection

AJN Realty Advisors provides comprehensive retail advisory services for international and emerging brands entering and expanding in the U.S. market.

 

We work with companies early in the decision-making process to evaluate the opportunity, develop the appropriate market-entry and retail strategy, understand store economics and operating requirements, and ultimately translate that strategy into successful real estate decisions.

 

The objective is not simply to find a location. It is to help create a retail strategy and operating platform capable of supporting successful, sustainable growth.

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Our Advisory Services

U.S. Market Entry Strategy

Helping international brands evaluate whether, when and how to enter the U.S. market, including market priorities, positioning, retail format and initial growth strategy.

Retail Growth & Expansion Strategy

Developing disciplined market and store expansion plans based on the brand's objectives, customer profile, operating capabilities and economics.

Retail Format & Store Strategy

Evaluating appropriate store formats, footprints, locations and customer experience for individual markets and stages of growth.

Store Economics & Financial Modeling

Evaluating occupancy costs, capital requirements, sales assumptions and location economics to support informed real estate decisions.

Operating & Organizational Strategy

Assessing the people, infrastructure, technology, systems and processes necessary to successfully enter a new market and support expansion.

Site Selection & Real Estate Strategy

Translating the broader business strategy into geographic priorities, site criteria and specific real estate opportunities.

Lease Negotiation & Transaction Execution

Structuring and negotiating transactions that support the client's financial, operational and long-term growth objectives.

Implementation & Store Opening Support

Helping bridge the gap between strategy, lease execution and the successful opening and operation of a new location.

A broader AJN capability

How We Work

Retail strategy and real estate strategy should not be developed independently.

01

Strategy

02

Market

03

Real Estate

04

Execution

05

Growth

A successful location begins with an understanding of the underlying business—its customer, operating model, economics, growth objectives and organizational capabilities.

AJN’s Retail Advisory platform brings those disciplines together, providing clients with continuity from initial strategy through market selection, site selection, lease negotiations and implementation.

Why AJN Retail Advisory

Operating Experience Meets Real Estate Experience

AJN’s Retail Advisory practice combines two complementary perspectives.

Alan J. Napack

A broader AJN capability
Alan brings more than four decades of retail real estate experience representing retailers, restaurants, property owners and international brands in New York and markets throughout the United States.

E. Lee Byrd

Senior Retail Advisor
Lee brings more than three decades of senior retail operating experience, including C-suite responsibility for strategy, operations, merchandising, store development, international growth and organizational infrastructure.
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E. Lee Byrd

E. Lee Byrd is a senior retail and consumer brand executive with more than three decades of experience in C-suite leadership positions including President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Commercial Officer and CEO of Retail.

Byrd spent much of his career with A|X Armani Exchange, progressing through senior leadership positions to become Global COO and ultimately Global Chief Operational & Commercial Officer. During his tenure he played a central role in the company’s development into an international retail business operating 265 stores across more than 30 countries.
As CEO of Retail for Manchester United Football Club, Byrd was recruited to develop a comprehensive global retail strategy encompassing market and location strategy, store design, merchandise and assortment development, financial modeling, site economics, supply chain, technology and organizational requirements.
More recently, as President and COO of Jetty Life and as an advisor and investor to emerging consumer brands, Byrd has worked with founders and ownership teams on growth strategy, capital deployment, operating models, organizational development and the systems required to scale.
At AJN Realty Advisors, Byrd works alongside the firm’s real estate professionals to advise international and emerging brands on U.S. market entry, retail strategy, operating models and implementation.
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Built for Ambitious Retail Growth

Our Retail Advisory practice is designed for:
  • International brands evaluating entry into the United States
  • Established brands entering new U.S. markets
  • Emerging consumer companies transitioning from digital to physical retail
  • Retailers developing a more disciplined expansion strategy
  • Founders and investors evaluating store economics and growth opportunities
  • Companies requiring strategic operating guidance and real estate execution
International Brands

Entering the U.S. Market?

Entering the United States involves considerably more than identifying available real estate. Market selection, customer positioning, operating structure, store economics, staffing, supply chain, technology and capital requirements can all influence whether a retail concept succeeds.
AJN Retail Advisory helps international brands evaluate these issues before committing to real estate and then provides the market knowledge and transaction expertise necessary to execute the strategy.
Discuss U.S. Market Entry
Selected brand experience

A|X Armani Exchange

Calvin Klein
Skechers
Neuhaus
Ole & Steen
Todd English
Samsung
Brandy Melville
Zadig & Voltaire
The brands displayed represent companies with which AJN Realty Advisors and/or members of its team have worked and are not necessarily current clients.
Your next stage of growth

Considering U.S. Expansion?

Whether you are evaluating your first U.S. location or developing the next stage of an existing retail platform, AJN Realty Advisors can help evaluate the strategy, economics and real estate required to support successful growth.
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